This Is War
by jerichovixen
Summary: She was a threat, more so to his career and she was pretty infectious. Her ulterior side crept suspicions but her beauty overcame all of that. Much to his dismay, he was fond of her, but she had the potential of threatening his career, like her brother.


My first fic. It really is. If you've seen it on my old account, **xbelieveinjericho **then you'll see it here again. I never deleted this file and I forgot the email and stuff to my old account so I made this one to make up for it. You'll see some new things in this one, but I hope you like it.

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><p><em>Ahh, Chicago is lovely.<em>

Thoughts progressed in the blonde's mind as she pressed harshly against the steering wheel. She couldn't conceal her nervousness and at her many failed attempts, she knew it was best to let it out. She took many heavy breaths, pacing incessantly, the fear of seeing the intimidating business and more so, the taunting blue eyes of her older brother.

Avery wasn't use to being so apprehensive forthcoming any opportunity that approached her, but this time, things weren't necessarily claimed as opportunistic. The blonde battled the present year in a desperate job and she found hope when she was called as the new "Jericho". The fear was, her brother's perspective behind it. Was he even aware that his baby sister was approaching the so-called danger zone? He was overly vigilant with her, being the younger of the two and the one he constantly looked out for.

The blonde let her blue eyes leer over the autumn scenery that took place in the northern area of the U.S. She was aware of the temperatures, nurtured in the farther north of New York, she was able to approach the chilly temperatures normally.

Riding along quietly humming music that blared from her radio, her mind skipped over to the thought of Chris. She missed him, with his constant job being far away from her, it had been a year or so since she saw his face, and with their reunion being so, unforeseen, she really couldn't predict her brother's mindset on the whole ordeal. It was sort of an impetuous decision, but she couldn't hold back the offer, especially with her life going practically anywhere.

With his vigilance getting overboard at times, knowing her cryptic idea would be the most of his worries if he discovered soon, and she was very determined to conceal all obvious factors of her appearance. She was doing it for his own sake, and hers as well. He would soon see it that way, she hoped.

The parking lot was crowded as she slid the car into an available parking lot and took a moment to restrain herself from her incessant thoughts. She missed her brother immensely, but her upcoming into the business was going to be inevitably difficult to pass by him. He was never going to allow her to do something so reckless, just like him.

She flashed her pass to the security men causing blockage in the back of the building as she struggled to find her direction to the boss's office. She never thought she could be completely lost, that is until she found herself come in contact with a lot of muscle.

She stumbled back a bit. "Watch where you're going, shortie."

She blinked, studying his large figure. "Sorry." She mumbled.

"We wouldn't want little things like you getting harmed by running into people like me. Consider this a fair warning."

She gulped as she tilted her head in a nod while he moseyed away from her. She now found a reason for being so intimidated to saunter into this place.

"Avery Irvine?"

Turning her body around, she recognized the older features of the main, Vince McMahon. His smile appeared on his face while he walked toward her. "It's very nice to have you here."

"I'm very glad to be here." She announced, slightly applying some feigned eagerness, "I want to thank you for giving me this –"

He was quick to interject. "Now, Ms. Irvine, when we have a business that is booming for Jericho, we must get some more of it, don't you think? Ever since Chris returned two weeks ago, everyone has been buzzing about him. I think a perfect way to add some flavor is to put some family into the mix, starting with you."

She blushed, "Thank you Mr. McMahon. Would you mind telling me where I begin?"

"I won't get into much detail about the storylines, because that's where Stephanie will be taking over. I want to assure you that you made a very wise decision, Avery. I hope you take advantage of it."

She smiled, with his solemn expression fading into a smile and a chuckle. "I'll leave you to get adjusted to the roster and then maybe you should meet with your brother. I'm sure he'll be very happy to see you."

_More like shocked with a little bit of anger towards it._

He disclosed his goodbyes before trotting away from the blonde, leaving her to blink ridiculously at her surroundings. She never thought she would be placed in such a clueless position, but with it being her first day, she wanted to make a first impression.

"_Jay, sometimes I wonder what on Earth comes to your mind when you go out."_

The sound of her brother's voice caused her to go mentally frantic. She didn't want him discovering her employment to the business like this. She knew he wouldn't be happy about it and the last thing she wanted was for him to find her like a lost puppy. That would prove his point of her incapability to be apart of the company.

Sneakily, she scurried to the closest door to conceal herself away from her older brother. Pressing her back against the door, she opened her eyes to find a figure staring at her in bewilderment.

"Can I help you?"

She looked up at him, with a slightly embarrassed look. He looked like he was prepping for a match, wearing little ring gear like most of the men in the company, including Chris. She tried to conceal her embarrassment with a smile.

"Hi. Sorry I was just –"

"Running from something – or someone?"

She nodded, as he sent her a very comforting smile, sending a whirl of alleviation through her. "At off all places, you stumble into my locker room? It must be my lucky day."

"Are you hitting on me?"

He smiled. "Don't go fan girl on me, cutie. It's not everyday that a girl walks into my room."

"Fan girl? That is not me at all. And I'm sorry for the abrupt change in your daily activities, but I needed a place to scram to. I'll go now."

His voice stopped her. "Wait – I wasn't kicking you out. But if you want to go, the least you can do is give me a name? Unless you like being called cutie."

She smiled. "Avery, and I'm guessing you are CM Punk, right?"

"Smart girl. But you can call me Punk." He said, picking up a very shiny belt, "The WWE Champ. I would love to chat some more, but I have a promo to cut. Maybe, I'll see you later?"

"Maybe."

He smirked, before sauntering out of the dressing room leaving the blonde alone to ingest her thoughts. Reconsidering peeping her head out, the coast seemed very clear and the blonde promenaded into the hallways, keeping a vigilant eye out on her older brother, someone she was hoping she wouldn't see for the rest of the day.

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><p>The blonde had individually discovered the hotel, no thanks to any other employees who took it upon themselves to give her the cold shoulder even when she was in need. It seemed the others weren't fond of her arrival, even though she was completely innocent, she felt condemned for something she never even knew about. She just assumed it was the newest acquisition situation she was in, and it would all roll of their backs soon enough, or at least she hoped.<p>

Vince had offered her to experience the RAW show behind the scenes of the arena, but to avoid any contact with Chris; she declined taking in the show from behind the TV screen of her hotel room.

It took her a while to settle in to the very pleasant hotel room where RAW had already started and she noticed CM Punk receiving high cheers from the crowd, mainly being located in his hometown. He sped down the ramp giving some words on the microphone before John Laurinaitis came down giving her a migraine from his aching voice.

It was just a moment later a knock had made impact on the door, startling her a little bit. She was overreacting, but for good reason, in a way. She slowly sauntered towards the door, opening it cautiously, finding an unrecognizable face peering at her.

"Hello?" She said uncertainly.

He smiled at her gently, "You must be, Avery? I was sent by Vince to come and fetch you before RAW was over. I guess he has some things he needs to get planned for you."

She nodded, "Oh, okay. I'll be right there, just let me grab my phone."

Turning away slightly, she glanced at the device that had received over a dozen messages, and to her surprise, one of them was from Chris. A feeling of bewilderment overcame her. Thousands of questions impressed her head before she snapped out of her moment and gazed at the man leaning against the doorframe.

_I think I'm getting a little too paranoid for my own good._

She smiled at him, "Okay, I'm ready."

He offered a small smile in her direction, "Good. I don't want to be on the bad side of Vince. I think I've done that already."

"So you are?"

"You don't know who I am? Do you know how relevant I am to this business?" He inquired, before his smile reappeared, "I'm kidding. I wouldn't expect you to know me that well, but I'm Mike Mizanin, commonly known as The Miz."

She nodded, "I remember you, now. You were apart of Tough Enough and were the reality star, right?"

"You know your trivia, don't you?"

She chuckled, "I guess so. And I'm Avery –"

"Irvine, I know. You look just like your brother it's unreal. Plus, Vince told me we would be having a feminine taste of Jericho this week, and I inferred it was you."

She laughed, reminiscing the common resemblance she and Chris had. You could easily spot their similarities; the light blue eyes, the medium toned skin, the blonde hair, and the smile that everyone adored. It was the Irvine smile.

"Yeah, we're more different than you think, trust me."

"I guess I'll have to know you better to find that out for myself."

The red tint on her cheeks appeared inconspicuously as the two entered Mike's car and took a ten-minute drive to the arena, where Avery felt herself tense up, as she got closer to the arena. She feared seeing Chris, and maybe letting loose would be helpful, but she just couldn't think of him seeing her. It would badly affect her first day, making it more stressful than it already had.

"You okay? You look a little tense?"

She entered a blissful façade, "I'm okay, really. I'm just tired, nothing to worry about."

Unfastening her seatbelt, the arena's aroma came to her senses easily, remembering them from the previous hours. Mike directed her to the boss man's office where an unbalanced feeling lied in the pit of her stomach. She never felt so nervous.

"Avery, so glad to see you back. I would've figured you would've stayed back and watched the show from the back." Vince chirped, "Mike, thank you for the help. You may go now."

Mike smiled at Avery, "I'll see you around."

As she nodded, the Ohio native took off in the opposite direction of them while Avery shyly smiled at the boss, "I had a lot of phone calls and I needed a useful nap, but I'm energized."

Vince beamed, "Good, because Stephanie wants to get started on your character and storyline that will start in two weeks. She is in the meeting room if you want to go see her."

The owner waved off Avery as he strolled away leaving the blonde to adjourn into the meeting room just a few yards away. The unsettling feeling soon faded, sending alleviation through her peacefully. Maybe she was getting a little paranoid for nothing. She successfully overlooked Chris and that was her whole plan and she was doing very well for the most part.

"Avery, it's so nice to see you. Have a seat." Stephanie smiled, motioning the blonde a seat across from her. "I know these last minute meetings are a little overwhelming, but I assure you that this won't be very long."

Avery smiled, biting her bottom lip nervously as Stephanie slid a stack a papers towards her, "This is my script?"

"Well, with us, scripts are useless, because there is no possible way you can memorize all of that perfectly. It's just some ground information on your character and some brief detail of the storyline you'll be taking place in."

Flipping through the pages, she noticed that she was starting off easy, appearing firstly at house shows and live events before making her big appearance in three weeks time. She smiled, "Thanks, Mrs. McMahon. I appreciate the opportunity."

"Avery, don't be afraid to speak up if you feel the need to change anything. With me chipping in, in the writing department this year, I feel the need to let my employees have a voice in this company."

"Well, I am very glad about that. I guess we'll start from Monday, right?" Queried the blonde.

"Well, there is one minor thing." Stephanie began, "See, the divas' division was very disappointing last year and I think with you being a Jericho, you would add an extra oomph we need to add some spice to the divas. So, I want you to be fully prepared. I think getting some extra training will help. I'll call Chris to see if he can –"

"Actually," Avery interjected, "Chris is probably the least bit interested in training me with this new storyline and all, I've actually found someone who won't mind giving me some wrestling tips before my debut."

Stephanie arched an eyebrow, "Are you sure? I'm sure Chris won't mind helping his sister out."

"I think he will, trust me. I have someone that will help you don't have to worry. I promise."

Stephanie was unsure if the information she was receiving was true, but she needed to believe the blonde in order to have her working in the company. She nodded uncertainly, "Okay, if you suppose. I just hope they can get you in the comfort zone in the ring by Monday. We'll really need you by then."

"And you'll have me fully prepared. I'll see you soon." She flashed a smile before traipsing away from the meeting room.

The last thing she needed was an inadvertent run in with Chris, who had absolutely no idea that she was even here, and it would just spoil the way she wanted to tell him in the first place. In his mind, she was in New York like she had been previously, but now, she really wasn't and she had to place a façade for the time being. It was her only hope. But right now, she needed someone to offer a training job for her. And only one name came to mind.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong>What are your thoughts? I really hope you enjoyed, seeing this being my very first story. Also, who do you think's name came to mind when she needed a trainer? Give a prediction of whom you might think will be her training? It could be anyone. Also, I think I should say this once more, I hope you enjoyed and will very much enjoy the chapters to come. :) x K.


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